Coat Tales Blog

The history of Australian menswear in the media Research

The history of Australian menswear in the media

Over the past few years, there's been plenty of media and public interest in the…

Melissa BellantaMarch 7, 2026

Mid-Century Youth Fashion, Brisbane ‘Bodgie’ Style  Research

Mid-Century Youth Fashion, Brisbane ‘Bodgie’ Style 

Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 2 March 1952, 5 'Fashion: Bodgie Styles for Spring', Pix (Sydney), 14…

Melissa BellantaMay 27, 2024

Harry Guinsberg’s lingerie-look shirts Research

Harry Guinsberg’s lingerie-look shirts

Born in Carlton, Melbourne, in 1902 and dying in Brisbane in 1972, the Queensland shirtmaker…

Melissa BellantaMay 23, 2024

Suits and belonging in modern Australian history Research

Suits and belonging in modern Australian history

In June 2023, I gave an interview about the Australian history of the three-piece suit…

Melissa BellantaFebruary 5, 2024

Behind the Zip: An Australian Drag King Exhibition Uncategorized

Behind the Zip: An Australian Drag King Exhibition

The stage in the basement of the Imperial Erskineville was overtaken by eight legendary Australian…

Melissa BellantaFebruary 20, 2023

Eyes on the ties Research

Eyes on the ties

Recently, the new Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather – neatly attired in a suit and shirt…

Lorinda CramerAugust 18, 2022

A high-maintenance masculine fashion Research

A high-maintenance masculine fashion

Tropical whites in early twentieth-century Darwin and Broome Among many striking early twentieth-century photographs of…

Melissa BellantaAugust 1, 2022

Suits that ‘Mark the Man’ Research

Suits that ‘Mark the Man’

Our latest article, ‘Clothes Shall Mark the Man’: Wearing Suits in Wartime Australia, 1939–1945, has…

Lorinda CramerFebruary 17, 2022

The rise and rise of denim jeans: Part 2 Research

The rise and rise of denim jeans: Part 2

Yesterday I had a chat to Libbi Gore on her program, This Weekend Life on…

Lorinda CramerNovember 14, 2021

‘Commonsense comfort’: Dressing for Australia’s climate Research

‘Commonsense comfort’: Dressing for Australia’s climate

In November 1922, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper published a letter written by Emily Bennett, Honorary…

Lorinda CramerNovember 9, 2021